I am working right now on a research paper entitled "Political Division and Democratization in the Middle East." A small description on the project: When we look to the legislative elections in Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, and Iraq, these elections, rather than creating conditions of stability and political harmony, accelerated their societies' entrance into conflict and political rivalry, setting the stage for intense fighting and outbidding. Although the touted paradigm of democratic transition claims to guarantee peace and stability, it appears difficult, if not impossible for political entities in the Middle East, even the ones which have seemingly adhered to the standards of democratization, to attain peace and stability. The strange paradoxes presented in the three latter cases is that the need for democracy is supposed to rise higher than degrees of division and unity. It is believed to be able to moderate the positions of the involved parties, spurring them to re-draft both evaluations and calculations, ultimately leading them to consensus, and even perhaps compromise. The exact opposite, however, happened in these cases.

Citation:

Ziadeh, Radwan. 2005. "The Near Peace: The Syrian-Israeli Negotiations."